To ask you to please, please help me with my Athletes Foot

[CanIbeRio]

Sorry for use of AIBU, unashamedly posting for traffic!

I've been struggling with Athletes Foot since beginning of July. In desperation to get rid of it I used a vinegar soak and cos I didn't dilute it enough I gave myself chemical burns which shredded my toes where the AF was - 2 trips to A&E, visits to GP practice nurse and by 4 weeks on all healed, great

3 weeks ago the bleeping AF returned. I used Daktarin for 2 weeks which was keeping it at bay but hadn't completely kicked it so last week switched to Lamisil Once. Didn't work and by weekend seemed a bit worse. After 7+ weeks exclusively in sandals, a trip to London on Sat forced me into trainers for the day as I had some walking to do. Upshot is from yesterday feet red, angry, sore and doc says I now have a secondary bacterial infection in the AF areas which she's given me fusidic acid for

Pharmacist initially said drop treating AF in favour of using fusidic acid as obvs more important to treat bacterial infection. But...im going abroad on hols next week and I want this gone...so he said, OK use fusidic twice, not 3 times a day and use Daktarin spray once. Has anyone done this , did it clear both infections? Im so fed up - i have a bad back and 7 weeks of this crap, bending to tend burnt then AF ridden feet is not helping it. Can anyone give me any advice to give me the best chance of healing this before I fly off next Weds

Sorry for the essay!! And thank you if you got to the end of it!

Terbinafine is the same as Lamisil. Lamisil is just the brand name.

My DS suffers from AF and it’s been terrible this year. We’ve been using Lamisil / terbinafine on prescription and it’s just beginning to improve a bit.

I had blood tests on turbinafine and I was fine. Honestly, the toe nail brings something with it, I can’t remember what it’s called, but it’s like a sock of eczema round the skin of your foot. I wish I’d taken the tablets years ago, I feel so much happier and more confident.

As above-
Footwear= very important to make sure any footwear is treated. Use sprays in the shoe, if the footwear / trainers are very worn that would harbour moisture / bacteria consider getting new ones. Do not wear shoes that are sealed and harbour sweat/ can’t breath e.g enclosed rubber crocks. Wear more breathable shoes / sandles / slipper ms where possible.
Socks= some socks which are synthetic can harbour sweat. I have to have socks with a higher cotton content. Very cool washes do not thrillingly clean and I have always been recommended to clean any items with risk of of infection at 60’
Drying= get a small clean dry flannel and make sure you feet are fully dried after bathing ( wash the flannel afterwards, saves washing the whole towel as frequenty.

It’s trainers that do for me. They always have. When l don’t wear them l don’t get it.

As soon as l try again it flares up. It’s been like this for 25 years. I just don’t wear them anymore.

I had athletes foot which spread to fungal nails. Only terbinafine cleared it, I had the liver tests annd all was fine.
I did spray and all my shoes and I did throw away all shoes that I’d worn barefoot after, because I blamed one pair for reinfecting me.

I took terbinifine for 6 months to get rid of AF , I’d tried everything and it was the only thing that worked , didn’t affect my liver at all .

@milliemoons, thanks for that. Im spraying sandals with Scholl antifungal. Everything my feet touch is washed at 60 or in Eradicil if it can't be washed at 60. Im spraying shower tray with Dettol One for All. Changing bed every other day. I put socks on when I change undies or put trousers on as im terrified of transferring it to groin and getting jock itch which really would be the cherry on the cake 😱. Washing machine on constantly. Is this all enough? Are these products the best to use? It's such a bloody circus - it's a constant faff. I feel for each and every one of you suffering. I've never, ever had this before in my life, I never realised how awful it is ☹️

have you tried:

• just wearing airy leather shoes? No sweaty trainers / synthetic uppers / polyester socks, no rewearing of docks
• colloidal silver spray - it’s antibacterial and antifungal. Totally knocked my gnarly fungal nail on the head. But also very gentle on the skin

Thank you all so very much for your helpful suggestions 💕

I don't think anyone else has mentioned it, but after months of misery with AF, I came across some Caneston cream (which I'd had previously for Thrush) in my drawer, and for some reason read the box which said it could be used for fungal infections, so I put some on the AF, and it cleared it up in no time. Might be worth a try??

@curious79 thank you. I have Alpha Silver in my house from when my dd had toenail surgery- will give that a try

@Givenupshopping thank you. I have heard Canisten can be effective
Has anyone used Vicks or Listerine - they sound a bit out there - but any port in a storm!

I used Vicks. Calmed it but didn’t get rid of it.

There was a massive thread on Reddit about Listerine and vinegar ( half and half) and soaking feet.

It seemed to work for all the desperate people on there!

https://www.reddit.com/r/SkincareAddiction/s/xkvyT6QuYA

Im quite worried that this is going to keep getting infected. Long term sufferers, can you put my mind at rest that this going to keep happening! Im a bIt crestfallen that one day in trainers has resulted in an infection. I do wonder if my skin is still recovering from the chemical burns and is therefore not quite as robust as it should be

Dissolve a teaspoon of potassium permanganate crystals (from Amazon) in a bowl of warm water. Soak feet for 20 minutes, dry with old dark towel and be prepared for temporary brown feet but the end of AF.

Wash feet twice a day with Hibiscrub and then put Gewohl anti fungal drops on every nail twice a day until it clears up. Recommended by friends husband who's a podiatrist.

I had to take amoxicillin

@ArseInTheCoOpWindow 😂love your name!! I cant entertain the thoughts of vinegar!! I have vinegar PTSD after burning my feet with it! ....but thanks for the suggestion

I've suffered for years if not decades and used Lamisil once every few weeks to treat it but never eradicated it.

I've been taking vitamins D and A to boost my immune system after some private blood tests my levels were low. My athletes foot has now finally cleared up.

@peonypatch was that for bacterial infection or did it cure AF? I had to take flucloxicillin after burning my feet as that got infected. So on my 2nd infection in 2 months - lucky me!!!

@chasingpavementsnotpayments that's interesting, thanks

Weirdly i never had Athletes Foot for years, although my husband sometimes did, then after 20 years of marriage, I got Athletes Foot (didn't want it!)
There are 2 versions of lamisil, the ordinary one and one called lamasil once. You need to use lamasil once to get rid of it initially - my podiatrist told me that is the superior product and WILL get rid of it - I'm not sure if she also used something else, but she said just lamasil on its own won't work to get rid of bad cases, it just keeps it at bay once gone.
Since getting rid of it, I now, every two or three days, moisturise my feet with Aveeno, paying special attention to between toes and underneath toes.
That's what works for me anyway, good luck.

That makes me so happy to read sunshine and sandals helped. Thank you!

You might need new shoes. Old ones can irritate your feet with the sweat and moisture.

I had( have) fungal nail, treated it with nail paint on stuff, burnt my toes..ended up with infection/ AF. 2 lots of antibiotics, daktarin and now dermovate and my toes are normal sized and colour ( big toe went black with dead skin! ) Still got bloody fungal nail though! 🙈